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AJ Styles apologizes to Shane McMahon: SmackDown LIVE, Aug. 15, 2017The Phenomenal One attempts to make good with Shane McMahon after last week's inadvertent kick, but Kevin Owens arrives to stir up bad feelings.08/15/2017 - 22:37

What does Natalya have planned for Naomi at SummerSlam?: WWE.com Exclusive, Aug. 15, 2017Natalya bristles at the suggestion she backpedaled when Naomi arrived ringside on SmackDown LIVE and insists her win over Becky Lynch was a preview of what lies ahead for the SmackDown Women's Champion at SummerSlam.08/15/2017 - 21:45

From special guest referees blowing calls to Brock Lesnar going on a rampage, these are the most controversial closing moments in SummerSlam history.

08/10/2017 - 16:30

Shane McMahon lays down the law to AJ Styles and Kevin Owens: SmackDown LIVE, Aug. 8, 2017Ahead of the United States Championship Match at SummerSlam, special guest referee Shane McMahon explains why he'll be calling the match right down the middle.08/08/2017 - 22:30

Natalya warns Carmella and James Ellsworth ahead of SummerSlam: SmackDown LIVE, Aug. 8, 2017After James Ellsworth helped Carmella defeat Naomi, Natalya warns the two to stay out of her way when she faces the SmackDown Women's Champion at SummerSlam.08/08/2017 - 22:00

Triple H takes a savage beatdown: Raw, Aug. 7, 2006

Triple H's match against Umaga quickly turns into a numbers disadvantage that The Game is forced to try and fend off.

Kevin Owens confronts Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan: SmackDown LIVE, Aug. 1, 2017After his United States Championship rematch ended in controversy, a seething Kevin Owens demands another title bout with a new referee, which Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon are happy to give him at SummerSlam.08/01/2017 - 20:56

See exclusive footage of Chris Jericho's return match and AJ Styles' U.S. Title victory: WWE.com Exclusive, July 27, 2017Watch alternate angles of SmackDown LIVE's thrilling main event, a Triple Threat Match for the United States Championship between Kevin Owens, AJ Styles and the returning Chris Jericho.07/28/2017 - 11:22

Big Show rocks the WWE Universe with a destructive return: Royal Rumble 2001The World's Largest Athlete lays waste to numerous WWE Superstars, including The Rock, as he returns in the 2001 Royal Rumble Match.07/27/2017 - 16:22

SummerSlam opponents come face to face in a heated interview, while Ms. Money in the Bank, Carmella, lurks in the background and flaunts her contract.

07/25/2017 - 21:15

AJ Styles and a returning Chris Jericho confront Kevin Owens: SmackDown LIVE, July 25, 2017After recapturing the United States Title from AJ Styles at WWE Battleground, Kevin Owens attempts to announce the return of the New Face of America Open Challenge, only for The Phenomenal One and a returning Chris Jericho to interrupt him.07/25/2017 - 21:17

Sinister alliances come in to play in the Women's 5-Way Elimination Match: WWE Battleground 2017 (WWE Network Exclusive)Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Tamina and Lana battle it out to determine who will face Naomi for the SmackDown Women's Title at SummerSlam: Courtesy of the award-winning WWE Network.07/23/2017 - 21:55

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Before they were Superstars: WWE's current stars as kids

Most Superstars go relatively unknown until they make their WWE debut, but a few of today’s competitors managed to sneak into the background of WWE and WCW programming in their youth. Only the most attentive fans noticed them — until now.

WWEClassics.com sat down with AJ, Cody Rhodes and other current Superstars to get the story behind their cameo appearances. We also dug into the WWE archives to see if we could spot any Alumni hidden in the background. You’d be surprised at what we found.

Cody Rhodes

"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes gets inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame.

"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes gets inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame.

If you look just to Dusty Rhodes’ left during his WCW Hall of Fame induction at Slamboree 1995, you’ll see a nine-year old Cody Rhodes holding onto his father’s award. Though he gives off the air of confidence today, the second-generation Superstar wasn’t always so self-assured.

“I think I was more nervous than I anticipated,” Rhodes told WWEClassics.com. “I’m standing next to my dad, not because I was supposed to, but because I was scared.”

Cody may have been reserved, but his polka-dotted, striped and patterned shirt definitely wasn’t. We asked the former Intercontinental Champion about his Technicolor outfit.

“If you look at any ‘90s country star, George Strait or Garth Brooks, that was the template,” he explained. “I would wear a cowboy shirt, completely buttoned up, occasionally with a bolo. It meant tight jeans and a belt that matched my boots, which were monogrammed, and my dad would paint the leather in where it said ‘Cody.’ “

AJ Lee

Before she was spinning her webs in the squared circle, AJ Lee was a member of the WWE Universe, just like the rest of us.

WWE cameras found her was while she waited in line for tickets to WrestleMania XX at Madison Square Garden, a moment highlighted in her introduction during season three of WWE NXT.

“We had to wait in line because we were so poor at the time, we couldn’t get a credit card,” AJ said of her journey to get tickets to The Show of Shows. “We had to pay cash after waiting in line for eight hours.”

While her father couldn’t afford ringside seats, just the idea of being at WrestleMania was enough for a young girl dreaming of Superstardom.

“We had such bad seats. My dad was like, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t get better ones,’ ” she explained. “I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m going to be in the ring one day.’ “

Tyson Kidd & Natalya

Natalya & Tyson Kidd take their first steps inside a WWE ring with the rest of the Hart family at In Your House in Calgary.

Natalya & Tyson Kidd take their first steps inside a WWE ring with the rest of the Hart family at In Your House in Calgary.

WWE In Your House: Canadian Stampede is remembered as a homecoming for The Hart Foundation, in the midst of their crusade against America. But while Bret Hart and his cohorts were celebrating a 10-Man Tag Team Match win, two future Superstars were also making their first appearance on WWE television, almost a decade before their in-ring debuts.

As the Calgary crowd exploded in rapture for The Hart Foundation's victory, the group's extended family — including Tyson Kidd and Natalya — joined them in the ring to celebrate. It’s a moment the current WWE competitors will never forget.

“I thought the pay-per-view was off the air, but it wasn’t. It exists forever,” Kidd said, noting that he has a GIF of his brief appearance on his phone, sent to him by a fan. “I didn’t want it to end, it was awesome.”

For Natalya, the impromptu gathering in the ring was symbolic of the Hart family’s strong bonds, despite any family quarrels.

“We’re a big family, there are conflicts,” she explained. “That night, everybody put everything aside and we were the Harts. We were united in that ring.”

Upon his arrival in WWE, the affluent Superstar took delight in offering members of the WWE Universe a pittance of his wealth to do anything he asked. He humiliated a basketball dribbling child, just one bounce shy of earning the money. He made fans get down on their knees and bark like dogs just to earn a few dead presidents. But no one was forced to degrade themselves like RVD.

After a victory, The Million Dollar Man invited the young Van Dam into the ring and offered him $100 to kiss his foot. To add insult to injury, the tycoon had his bodyguard Virgil remove his sweaty boot and sock.

Van Dam made sure that wasn’t his squared-circle legacy though, as he returned to WWE to win the Intercontinental, World Tag Team, ECW and WWE Championships — all without kissing anyone’s feet.

Shane McMahon

Before joining his father in The Corporation, Shane McMahon was a WWE Referee in the 1991 Royal Rumble.

Shane McMahon knew the way to the top of WWE was to learn the ins and outs of the company from the bottom up. He did just that from a young age.

Intrepid WWE watchers may have noticed a baby-faced referee calling the action in the early 1990s. You weren’t imagining things. It was a young Shane McMahon donning the powder blue shirt and bowtie of a WWE official.

Though The Boy Wonder may have had no problem breaking up the heated action, the young ref was flustered by some of sports-entertainment’s more intricate bouts. In fact, Shane was caught counting a Superstar out during the 1991 Royal Rumble Match.

While refereeing may not have been suited for him, Shane continued working his way up the WWE ladder, becoming an announcer before working under his father and eventually buying WCW to take WWE head on.

The Rock

Before he was "The Great One," Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson sat in the crowd to watch his WWE Hall of Famer father Rocky Johnson compete with Tony Atlas.

Before he was "The Great One," Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson sat in the crowd to watch his WWE Hall of Famer father Rocky Johnson compete with Tony Atlas.

Today, he’s known worldwide as The Most Electrifying Man in Entertainment, but three decades ago The Rock was just a boy, watching from ringside as his father, Rocky Johnson, battled back rivals like The Wild Samoans. His family, from his grandmother and grandfather to his father were involved in sports-entertainment, which had a big impact on him from a young age.

While he watched his father make history by teaming with Tony Atlas to become the first African-American World Tag Team Champions, The Rock eclipsed anything he could have possibly dreamed. The Brahma Bull went from ringside to the top of the entertainment business, becoming a multi-time WWE Champion and a huge movie star, achieving crossover success like no other WWE Superstar.